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A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a 2007 novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, following the huge success of his bestselling 2003 debut The Kite Runner. Mariam, an illegitimate teenager from Herat, is forced to marry a shoemaker, Rasheed from Kabul after a family tragedy
Almost twenty years later, she forms a close friendship with Laila, a local teenager, and becomes something of a mother figure to her. When the Taliban take over, life is turned upside down, and the women live in fear and must fight for their survival.
Author
Author
Imprint
Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN
Publishing date
RRP (paperback)
Pages
1526604752
23 August 2018
£8.19
432
Can love survive the violence and volatility of three tumultous decades of conflict and explosive political upheaval in Afghanistan’s recent history?
That’s the very human question at the centre of Khaled Hosseini’s novel which he explores through the eyes of two women.
Mariam and Leila are thrown together by political, personal and social tragedy and,on the face of it, are unseen and totally powerless in the face of extreme prejudice, loss, deprivation and violence.
This is such a powerful story, shocking and heartbreaking in equal measure, as they are forced to live in the shadows, enduring a a domestic mirror of the violence erupting outside.
Yet somehow they are able to forge bonds of love and family, giving us a
compelling message about the human spirit and the power of unconditional love.
If you’re looking for an easy read, this isn’t it. But it certainly left me thinking. A big nine out of 10 from me.
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